COMMENTARY : This Blyleven Joke Is on His Doubters

After years of petty arson and a trail of smoking shoelaces from here to over the hill, Bert Blyleven decided to pull the biggest practical joke of his life on the Minnesota Twins this summer.

He proved he could still pitch.

To Andy MacPhail, the normally good-humored general manager of the Twins, this was no snake-in-the-can-of-salted-peanuts. You don’t just clean the shaving cream out of your ear and laugh this one off.

From 10-17 to 17-5.

From 5.43 to 2.73.

From dustbin to dust the mantle, here comes the 1989 American League comeback player of the year award.

Timing is the essence of humor and Bert had that down perfectly, too. His resurrection in Anaheim coincided with the same season MacPhail chose to send Frank Viola, the 1988 AL Cy Young winner, to the New York Mets.

MacPhail had a rough year. The man who pitches pitchers. Let’s see now: He still has Allan Anderson, who won a league ERA championship in 1988.

Mike Port, it could be worth a phone call.

Of course, Blyleven wasn’t the only Angel who came back this season. His vindication was Port’s vindication--an endorsement of the step-cautiously trade philosophy for which Port has been assailed since becoming Angel general manager in 1984.

Port still won’t pull the trigger on the blockbuster deal, which can prove lethal, as we all rediscovered when the A’s acted first on Rickey Henderson. But sometimes the system works. The Port policy--ne’er part with a regular, but do dangle a few prospects for that past-prime veteran--clearly succeeded on Nov. 3, 1988, when he acquired Blyleven for three minor-leaguers.

What Port gave up: a Class-A hitting prospect (Paul Sorrento), a Class-A pitcher with a 2-5 record (Rob Wassenaar) and a fringe pitcher who already had failed in one trial with the Angels (Mike Cook).

What Port got: a 38-year-old pitcher who went on to lead the American League in shutouts with five, pitch 241 innings, walk 44 batters--think about that one--and end Angel losing streaks of seven, six and five games.

After one late-season victory by Blyleven, a 5-0 shutout of the Royals in Kansas City, even Port had to marvel at his resounding good fortune in this find.

“In all fairness and honesty, Bert has surpassed all of our expectations,” Port said. “Honestly, we were expecting a quality performance, despite what happened last year. Knowing Bert’s history, we figured that would mean more wins than losses.

“But this has been more than good. This has been outstanding.”

Comeback of the year? Port shrugged.

“The way he’s going, maybe he should be considered for something more complementary with the Cy Young Award.”

Bret Saberhagen will take care of that in the next few days, but the point had been made.

This time last year, the only time Blyleven and Cy Young were mentioned in the same breath, the topic was antiquity.

Blyleven performed a remarkable turnabout and, around him, so did the Angels. They tightened up on the field, winning 91 games, and loosened up off of it.

The greater accomplishment can be debated all winter.

Before Blyleven, the Angel clubhouse was a New York subway station without the graffiti. Surliness abounded and as soon as you gained entrance, all you could think about was getting out.

Blyleven brought the laugh track back to the Big A, even if his methods were as old as the Babe. As humorists go, Blyleven is closer to Jay Johnstone than Leno and his idea of a great joke is sticking a live lobster under the wheel of the team bus or rolling a firecracker behind a cluster of unsuspecting reporters.

Crude, yes. Dumb, yes. But in the Angel clubhouse, you’d have thought he was ghosting for Woody Allen.

Soon, players were crawling under the dugout bench during games to exchange hot feet and slipping miniature explosives into the cigarettes of Manager Doug Rader. Fast Times at Anaheim Stadium.

“He’s much too quiet and introverted,” Port deadpanned on that night in Kansas City. “We were hoping to draw him out when we made that deal. Get him to express himself.”

Mission accomplished, in more ways than one. Blyleven reminded the Angels that baseball, after all, was meant to be fun and reminded the world that Bert Blyleven, after all, can throw a curveball.

Officially, Blyleven was credited with 131 strikeouts in his first Angel season, but in this case the numbers lie. Somewhere along the line, Blyleven was shorted one. Somewhere in Minnesota, Blyleven had one more victim.

Andy MacPhail, caught looking.